TRIUM’s global community come together to celebrate 20 years

Andrés Velasco Andrés Velasco, the Dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, chaired the expert panel discussion on the theme of Globalisation – Then and Now: A 20 year Perspective on international crises and technological change.

The panel included Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America and the Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor Emerita of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University; Danny Quah, Li Ka Shing Professor in Economics and Dean at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (NUS); and Richard Baldwin, Professor of International Economics at the Graduate Institute, Geneva and Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Vox.

The panel observed that over the past 20 years globalisation has not been the panacea that some might have envisaged, but also not the root of all evil as others might perceive. The optimism around the idea that ‘the world is flat,’ and that commodities could be bought from anywhere and sold to anywhere, needed to be balanced against growing income inequality – in particular in the developed world – with the past 20 years seeing the wealthy become wealthier whilst middle class income has eroded in real terms in many countries.

The panel also hypothesised that the politics of today is a direct result of this inequality. The panel asked if developing world economies feel part of this global economy and whether the West has now turned its back on globalisation.

The world is now at a critical point where we need to look at new and unexpected models of governance, the role of global networks in bringing out the best of different models, and how technology will continue to drive radical change. The panel discussion ended by considering if those optimistic and those apprehensive about the next chapter of globalisation have indeed flipped from where we were 20 years ago.

Watch the discussion here:

The keynote panel was followed by virtual class reunions on Zoom, bringing together the TRIUM community with alumni from the first Class of 2003 to the present day to catch up with old classmates and network with new TRIUM alumni.